Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
- Google AdWords Groups To Gain Two New Representatives
Google AdWordsPro posted a thread at Google Groups announcing that his/her 20% time is not cutting it for answering all the questions in the Google AdWords Help Group. So because of that, they have enlisted two new AdWordsPro guides. The new representatives will likely post under the AdWordsPro username but sign off as either the normal AdWordsPro or 'AdWordsPro - George' or 'AdWordsPro - Martha'. AdWordsPro said: The overall goal in doing this is to - Quality of Microsoft adCenter Traffic Falling?
A WebmasterWorld thread reports that several Microsoft adCenter advertisers are recently unhappy with the quality of traffic they are seeing from adCenter. The conversion rates on adCenter, as reported by a few advertisers, has been as low as ever. WebmasterWorld senior member, ByronM, posted some recent stats showing his concern. Based on over 200 clicks (not impressions, but clicks): Google has a 3.9% conversion rate Yahoo has a 2.2% conversion rate Microsoft has a 0.0% - Does The First Anchor Text Link Only Count in Google?
SEOmoz posted results from a study he did where he concluded that only the first anchor text on a page is counted by Google as the anchor text for that link. For example, let's say you have a two links to the same URL on the same page. The first link on that page uses the anchor text [Big Blue Pineapple Chair] but the second anchor text uses [Small Red Cantaloupe Chair]. Which one will - Concerns Over Yahoo Search's New Microformats Support For Open Search
As an extension to Search Monkeys, a way for Yahoo to display enriched content within the search results for publishers (here is a screen shot to shock your memory): Yahoo last week announced support for microformats to help webmasters provide a richer search experience for Yahoo searchers when it comes to Yahoo indexing and showing results for your site. The supported formats include hCard, hCalendar, hReview, hAtom, and XFN. The supported vocabulary includes Dublin Core, - Poll: Would You Want to Work at Google?
A DigitalPoint Forums thread asks other members if they would want to work for Google. A good question, which I wanted to ask those who read this site. Considering the pay was equal to what you made now with your current job, would you want to leave your job to work at Google? Here is a poll, please answer simply yes or no (no maybes): I'll post the results later on this web site to
Search Engine Strategies Conference:
- Search Engine Friendly Design
How can you build a web site from the ground up that pleases both crawler-based search engines and your visitors? Discover how "search engine friendly" design can tap into free traffic from search engines. This session is especially suited for beginners who need an overview of important design issues to keep in mind. Moderator: Mark Jackson, Search Engine Watch Expert and President and CEO, VIZION Interactive Speakers: Eric Papczun, Director of Natural Search, Performics Matthew - Earning Money from Contextual Ads
Contextual Ads Track Earning Money From Contextual Ads This session looks at the way publishers can generate revenue by carrying contextual ads offered by major networks. Learn about some programs out there and tips on getting more from the ads you carry. Moderator: * Chris Boggs, Search Engine Watch Expert and Manager, Search Engine Optimization, eMergent Speakers: * Bryan Vu, Manager, AdSense Online Sales and Operations, Google * Cynthia Tillo, Product Evangelist for Advertising Services, - Do You Know the Breakdown of Your Competitors' Paid and Organic Traffic? Hitwise does.
This is a sponsored session from Hitwise, who will provide information about their competitive intelligence tools. On a personal note, I REALLY wish that Hitwise would open up to agencies. We have clients that have licenses and have seen the great information their product provides. Bill actually answered this question during the QA, and said that this is the way they like to work with the agencies (through clients that buy seats and the agencies - Domaining & Address Bar-Driven Traffic
First up is Matt Bentley, Chief Strategy Officer, Sedo.com. Matt talks about the economics of domain traffic. He talks about the old way versus buying traffic versus PPC and Adwords. An example is wifi.com. If wifi.com has 15,000 visitors you could buy that traffic; talks about 10 percent conversion ratio, and PPC. Advertisers could cut out the middleman (wifi.com and Google) and go directly to SEDO or the domain owner for the traffic. Cutting out - What's new with Google Analytics and Website Optimizer?
This session is packed, people are sitting on the floor. Avinash Kaushik Google Analytics, Analytics Evangelist is holding this panel. The issue is that there is too much data. The tool gives you actionable insights into data. I'm crammed here, this guy just sat on top of me... Data democracy: Give anyone you want access to your data. He shows how you can easily email reports. You can email specific types of reports to specific - Orion Panel: Universal Search
Search result multiplicity is not a new phenomenon, but recent advancements will guarantee the world of search and marketing will be changing forever. Hear from industry gurus about how search, marketing and information seeking is changing the industry that follows the search. Our ongoing series on universal search includes research data available only at SES. Moderators: • Kevin Ryan, Vice President, Global Content Director, Search Engine Strategies and Search Engine Watch • Mike Grehan, Global - Introduction to Search Engine Marketing
This session provided a clear and concise overview of the key concepts involved in Search Engine Marketing. Who are the major search engines and how can you best optimize them to gain "natural" or "organic" traffic without cost? Learn how to achieve top ranking or placement by utilizing search engine advertising opportunities. Introduction by: • Ron Jones, Search Engine Watch Expert and President/CEO, Symetri Internet Marketing Speakers: • Greg Jarboe, President and Co-Founder, SEO-PR • - SES NY Conference Welcome and Opening Keynote: Nick Carr
Conference Welcome and Opening Keynote: Nick Carr * Nick Carr, Author of The Big Switch, Rewiring the World, From Edison to Google Nick is giving a speech. Here it is: We're at a major turning point in the history of computing that has a whole set of ramifications. Computer systems and software algorithms are increasingly at the center of the way we do business, the way we find media, and the way we communicate. The
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- Adsense new feature Ad review Center, DigitalPoint Forums
- Google Says Microsoft/Yahoo Deal Might Hurt The Internet, WebmasterWorld
- Is MSN Lying About Their Referrer Spam?, Sphinn
- "Searches related to:" What can it teach us, WebmasterWorld
- 1/4 of all users cannot do a Google search, WebmasterWorld
- AdSense feature requests, week beginning March 17th, WebmasterWorld
- Yell.com launches netReach - advertising syndication product, WebmasterWorld
